Clouds increase later today, rain and snow arrives Wednesday

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Most of our Tuesday will be sunny and pleasant, but mountain snow and valley rain returns to the region through the middle of the week.

Rain and Snow Returning

The first little bit of spotty rain and snow returns to the higher elevations of the Western Slope through the evening and early overnight hours tonight. Mountain snow and valley rain will gradually become more widespread through the morning, then we’ll continue to see scattered to widespread rain and snow all across the Western Slope through much of the day on Wednesday. It won’t rain or snow all day in many locations, but there will be multiple rounds of rain and snow through the day. We may get a brief break from the rain and snow late Wednesday evening, then the precipitation ramps back up as a cold front moves through overnight Wednesday night and into early Thursday morning. Colder air could potentially transition some of that valley rain over to snow around Montrose Thursday morning while the rest of the valleys could see a rain/snow mix at best. Scattered snow will continue to fall mostly over the higher elevations of the Western Slope into Thursday afternoon as that cold front continues to push through.

Snowfall Totals

Montrose could see just enough of a transition over to snow early Thursday morning to see up to 1 to 2 inches of snow, but don’t expect much else in the way of snowfall accumulation in the valleys. Farther up Interstate 70, a trace to 1 or 2 inches of snow is possible in Parachute and Rifle, then that quickly increases to 6 to 9 inches as you head into Vail. The Grand Mesa will likely lead the way with a foot and a half to almost 2 feet of snow expected to fall. Additional snowfall totals of 6 to 12 inches or more are possible at Douglas Pass, the High Country, the Elk Mountains, the Uncompahgre Plateau, and the San Juan Mountains.

Next 24 Hours

Mostly sunny to sunny skies continue through the rest of the morning and into much of the afternoon as well, then clouds start increasing between around 4 PM and 7PM this evening. Those sunny to mostly sunny skies should be enough to warm temperatures into the middle and upper 50s for most of us, though a couple of highs right around 60° are not impossible. Spotty higher elevation rain and snow starts popping up mostly between 6 PM and 10 PM, then mountain snow and valley rain gradually becomes more widespread across the region overnight tonight and into early Wednesday morning. Overnight lows will fall into the upper 30s and lower 40s. It won’t be an all-day rain and snow, but several rounds of mountain snow and valley rain continue through much of the day on Wednesday with highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s.

Drier This Weekend

Most of the remaining rain and snow will dissipate Thursday night and early Friday morning, and we’ll see partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies again through the day on Friday. Temperatures will be at their coolest points for the week, with lows in the lower and middle 20s and highs in the lower to middle 40s. Clouds will be on the increase again as we head into the weekend, but temperatures will be warming alongside it. We’ll be in the middle to upper 40s on Saturday, then upper 40s and lower 50s on Sunday.

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